|
July 06, 2001
Watchdog Challenges Southern Company To Clean the Air
by Anne Moore Odell
The "Clean-Up Southern Company" campaign led by U.S. PIRG is educating consumers about Southern
Company and air pollution.
SocialFunds.com --
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.
PIRG), a public interest watchdog organization, has organized a campaign to raise public awareness
about pollution emissions from Southern Company's power plants. The "Clean-Up Southern Company" drive was initiated three months
ago in response to Southern Company's battles with the EPA and the firm's efforts to weaken the
Clean Air Act.
 Southern Company (ticker: SO) is the
holding company for Georgia Power, Alabama Power, Mississippi Power, Gulf Power and Savannah
Electric. Over 3.5 million people receive their electricity from Southern Company power plants.
"Southern Company spent $24 million last year building a green and friendly image,"
explained Nat Garrett, Clean Air Field Associate for U.S. PIRG. "One goal of the Clean-Up'
campaign is to simply let customers know that Southern Company is one of the biggest obstacles to
life-saving pollution rules."
U.S. PIRG is collaborating with more than 110 other
organizations, including the National Environmental Trust, Natural Resources Defense Council,
Greenpeace USA, Clean Air Task Force and Free the Planet: Students Organizing for the Earth, in a
media and grassroots campaign to shed light on Southern Company's actual commitment to
environmental preservation.
"As of today, approximately 25,000 public comments have been
generated on the Southern Campaign," said Garrett. "Those come in the form of faxes to the company
and postcards. That boils down to over 2,000 public comments a week!"
In an open letter to
Allen Franklin, CEO of Southern Power, U.S. PIRG asked him to support power plant clean-up
legislation and comply with the Clean Air Act in bringing Southern's plants up-to-date. Garrett
said "Because of 'Clean-Up's work, Southern has been forced to clarify their positions and not just
say they are green friendly…Southern's goodwill toward the environment is not to be believed
as they are pressuring the EPA. They are hard to trust."
While Southern Company
representatives could not be reached for comment, the company's website provides extensive materials concerning
environmental issues.
Many of Southern Company's plants are older coal-burning facilities
without the scrubbers and pollution-reduction devices installed in newer plants. Over
three-quarters of Southern's fossil-fired plants are over twenty years old. U.S. PIRG reports that
such plants emit about 37 percent more sulfur dioxide pollution than an average U.S. plant.
Although Southern has cut its SO2 pollution by 30 percent since 1990, emissions are
still 4.5 times higher than plants that meet modern emission standards.
With almost $24
million spent in 1999 on political and related activities, Southern Company is the largest utility
lobbyist in Washington. After Enron
(ENE), they are second among all energy providers in dollars spent lobbying.
Haley
Barbour and Katie McGinty are two of the most visible lobbyists working for Southern. Barbour, a
prominent Republican fundraiser, is working to scale back the power of the EPA to enforce standing
pollution laws. McGinty, former Director of the Council on Environmental Quality under President
Clinton, is helping the company to circumvent and weaken pollution rules as well.
"We are
waiting to see how things turn out with Southern Company and looking ahead to Southern's next
shareholder meeting next year in Savannah," said Garrett.
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Top
| 
